For the mythological city, see Tripura (mythology).

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Tripura India

Map indicating the location of Tripura

Coordinates:

Area| | 10,492 km (0 sq mi)

Capital| | Agartala

Largest city| | Agartala

District(s)| | 4

Language(s)| | Bengali, Kokborok (Tripuri)

Governor| style="border-top: 2px dotted #DCDCDC;" | D. N. Sahay

Chief Minister| | Manik Sarkar

| | 1972-01-21

Legislature (seats)| | Unicameral (60)

ISO abbreviation| |

Website: tripura.nic.in

Coordinates:

Tripura (helpinfo) (Bengali script: ত্রিপুরা) is a state in North-East India. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are Bengali and Kokborok (also known as Tripuri). It was formerly an independent Tripuri kingdom ^[1] and was merged with independent India on 15 October 1949 by the Tripura Merger Agreement. It was also known as Hill Tippera (anglicized version of Tipra) during the British India period ^[2] and has a glorious history of over 2500 years and 186 Kings^[3].

Origin of name

Several theories exist pertaining to the origin of Tripura's name:

• The origin of the word Tripura is attributed to the legendary tyrant king of Tripura, Tripur. According to legend, Tripur was the 39th descendant of Druhya, who was a descendant of Yayati, one of the lunar race kings. He was so powerful that he ordered his subjects not to worship him as the sole God. People fled to escape his tyranny to the nearby state of Hiramba (Cachar).
• The word Tripura may have originated from Tripura Sundari - the presiding deity of the land which is famous as one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, pilgrimage centres of Shakti worshippers of Hinduism.^[4]
• According to another school of thought the name Tripura was probably given to the state in honour of the temple at Udaipur, Tripureshwari, the wife of lord Shiva.
• According to historian Kailash Chandra Singha, the word Tripura is a derivative from two different Kokborok words twi and pra. Twi means water, pra means near. It is likely that the state bears the name Tripura from this fact that in ancient time the boundaries of Tripura extended up to the Bay of Bengal when its ruler held sway from the Garo Hills to the Arakan.
• According to another belief , Tripura is a corruption of Twi-bupra. The meaning of twi is water and that of bupra is confluence. Several villages in Tripura are named after the confluence of various rivers, e.g. Twikormo, Twirisa, Twisarangchak, and Twimudul.

History

Main article: History of Tripura

Tripura finds mention in the Mahabharata, the Puranas and pillar inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka. Tripura was a princely state before its merger with the Indian Union. The Tripuri Kings (Habugra) held the title of Manikya and ruled Tripura for 3000 years until its merger. Udaipur, in South Tripura district, was the capital of the Kingdom. The capital was shifted to Old Agartala by King Krishna Manikya in the eighteenth century, and then to the present Agartala in the 19th Century. The 19th century marked the beginning of Tripura's modern era, when King Bir Chandra Manikya Bahadur Debbarma modeled his administration on the pattern of British India and enacted various reforms.

The Ganamukti Parishad movement led to the integration of the kingdom with India in 1949. Tripura was heavily affected by the partition of India and the majority of the population now comprises Hindu Bengalis, many of whom came as refugees from East Pakistan after independence in 1947. Tripura became a centrally administered Union Territory on July 1, 1963 and attained the status of a full-fledged state on January 21, 1972.

Armed conflict in Tripura has been a problem since the end of the 1970s as an aftermath of 1971 Indo-Pak war. Mass migration of Bengalis from Bangladesh during this time has resulted in wide-spread insurgency and militancy in the state with groups such as the Tripura National Volunteers, the National Liberation Front of Tripura and the All Tripura Tiger Force aiming to drive away the Bengali people.

Geography and climate

Tripura is a landlocked hilly state in northeastern India with altitudes varying from 50 to 3080 ft above sea level, though the majority of the population lives in the plains. Tripura has a tropical climate and receives rainfall during the monsoons. It is surrounded on the north, west, and south by Bangladesh and is accessible to the rest of India through the Cachar district of Assam and Aizawl district of Mizoram in the east. The state extends between 22°56'N and 24°32'N and 90°09'E and 92°10'E. Its maximum stretch measures about 184 km from north to south and 113 km from east to west with an area of 10,492 km². Tripura is the third smallest state of the country.

Although landlocked, Tripura has many rivers including the Manu River which originates here.^[5]

Economy

Gross State Domestic Product at Current Prices (1999–2000 Base)[6] figures in millions of Indian Rupees
Year	Gross State Domestic Product
1980	2,860
1985	5,240
1990	10,310
1995	22,960
2000	52,700

Tripura's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $2.1 billion in current prices. Agriculture and allied activities is the mainstay of the people of Tripura and provides employment to about 64% of the population. There is a preponderance of food crop cultivation over cash crop cultivation in Tripura. At present about 62% of the net sown area is under food crop cultivation. Paddy is the principal crop, followed by oilseed, pulses, potato and sugarcane. Tea and rubber are the important cash crops of the State. Tripura has been declared the Second Rubber Capital of India after Kerala by the Indian Rubber Board. Handicraft, particularly hand-woven cotton fabic, wood carvings and bamboo products, are also important. The per capita income at current prices of the state stands at INRs 10,931 and at constant prices Rs 6,813 in the financial year 2000-2001.

Some quality timber like Sal, Garjan, Teak and Gamar are found abundantly in the forests of Tripura. Tripura has poor mineral resources, with meagre deposits of kaolin, iron ore, limestone, coal and natural gas. The industrial sector of the state continues to be highly underdeveloped.

Government and politics

Tripura is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy, a feature the state shares with other Indian states. Universal suffrage is granted to residents. There are three branches of government. The legislature, the Tripura Legislative Assembly, consists of elected members and special office bearers such as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, that are elected by the members. Assembly meetings are presided over by the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker in the Speaker's absence. The judiciary is composed of the Guwahati High Court (Agartala Bench) and a system of lower courts. Executive authority is vested in the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister, although the titular head of government is the Governor. The Governor is the head of state appointed by the President of India. The leader of the party or coalition with a majority in the Legislative Assembly is appointed as the Chief Minister by the Governor, and the Council of Ministers are appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. The Council of Ministers reports to the Legislative Assembly. The Assembly is unicameral with 60 Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs ^[7]. Terms of office run for 5 years, unless the Assembly is dissolved prior to the completion of the term. Tripura sends 2 representatives to the Lok Sabha and 1 representative to the Rajya Sabha. Auxiliary authorities known as panchayats, for which local body elections are regularly held, govern local affairs. Tripura also has an autonomous tribal council, the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council which has it head-quarters in Khumulwng.

The main political parties are the Left Front and the National Socialist Party of Tripura. Tripura is currently governed by Left Front, with Manik Sarkar as Chief Minister. Until 1977 the state was governed by the Indian National Congress. The left front governed from 1978 to 1988, and then returned in power in 1993. During 1988–1993 the state was governed by a coalition of the Congress and Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti.

Divisions

For administrative purposes, the state has been divided into 4 districts, 17 subdivisions, 40 development blocks.

Districts	Head-quarters	Population	Area (in km²)
Dhalai	Ambassa	307,417	2312
North Tripura	Kailashahar	590,655	2470
South Tripura	Udaipur	762,565	2624
West Tripura	Agartala	1,530,531	3544

Major towns of the state are Agartala, Badharghat, Jogendranagar, Dharmanagar, Pratapgarh, Udaipur, Kailashahar, Teliamura, Indranagar, Khowai and Belonia. Badharghat, Jogendranagar and Indranagar are now parts of the Agartala municipality.

Transport and communication

Tripura is connected with the rest of the country through Assam by narrow gauge railway line extending to Lumding and Silchar. The main railways stations are in the northern towns of Dharmanagar and Kumarghat. National Highway 44 connects it to Assam and the rest of India.

Agartala Airport, which has flights to Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore , Chennai , Delhi and Silchar, is the main airport of the state.

Most of the major Telecommunications companies of India are present in the state, with the state capital and regions of the state being served by Airtel, Aircel, Reliance and BSNL landline, mobile and broadband networks.

Demographics

Communities in Tripura

Community	Language	Language Family
Bengali	Bengali	Indo-European
Tipra/Tripuri	Kokborok	Sino-Tibetan
Bishnupriya Manipuri	Bishnupriya Manipuri	Indo-European
Manipuri	Meitei	Sino-Tibetan
Chakma	Changma Vaj	Indo-European
Kuki	Kuki	Sino-Tibetan
Lushai	Mizo	Sino-Tibetan
Mogh	Mogh	Sino-Tibetan

Tripura is the second most populous state in North-East India, after Assam. According to the census of 2001, Tripura has a total population of 3,191,168, with a density of 304 persons per square kilometer, and ranks 22nd among Indian states. It constitutes 0.31% population of India and 8.18% of the Northeast. In the 2001 census of India, Bengalis represent almost 70 % of Tripura's population and the native tribal populations represent 30% of Tripura's population. The tribal population comprises several different tribes and ethnic groups with diverse languages and cultures with the largest tribal group being the Kokborok-speaking tribes of the Tripuri (16% of the state's population), the Jamatia, the Reang and the Noatia tribal communities. There is some tension between these native tribal populations and Bengali settlers in tribal areas.

Tripura ranks 22nd in the human resource development index and 24th in the poverty index in India according to 1991 sources. The literacy rate of Tripura is 73.66%, higher than the national rate of 65.20%.

Hinduism is the majority religion in the state, with 85.6% of the population following the religion. ^[8] Muslims make up 8.0% of the population, Christians 3.2%, and Buddhists 3.1%. ^[9]

The vast majority of people in Tripura, both Bengali and tribal, are adherents of an animist-Shaktism hybrid of Hinduism, which was the state religion under the Tripuri kings. Brahmin priests (called chantais) are regarded as custodians of dharma and occupy an exalted position in Tripura society. Important gods are Shiva and Tripureshwari (patron goddess of Tripura and an aspect of Shakti). Several fertility gods are also worshipped, such as Lam-Pra (the twin deities of sky and sea), Mailu-ma (goddess of corn, identified with Lakshmi), Khulu-ma (goddess of the cotton plant) and Burha-cha (god of healing). Durga Puja, Navaratri, Vijayadashami and the worship of the Chaturdasha deities are important festivals.

Culture

See also:

Tripura has several diverse ethno-linguistic groups, which has given rise to a composite culture. The dominant culture is Bengali, while minority cultures are those of the Tripuris,Jamatia, Reang, Noatia, Koloi, Murasing, Chakma, Halam, Garo, Kuki, Lushai, Mogh, Munda, Oraon, Santhal and Uchoi.

Tripura has a rich cultural heritage of music, fine arts, handicrafts and dance. Music is an integral part of the tribal people of Tripura. Some of their indigenous instruments are the sarinda, chongpreng and sumui (a kind of flute). Songs are sung during religious occasions, marriages and other festivals. Agricultural festivals are integral to the culture of the state.

Dance is important to the tribal way of life. Dances are performed during Goria Puja. Hojagiri dance is performed by standing on a pitcher and is performed by the Reang clans. The Bihu dance is performed by the Chakmas during Chaitra Sankranti (the last day of the month of Chaitra).

Flora and fauna

The state is located in the bio-geographic zone of 9B-North-East Hills and possesses an extremely rich bio-diversity. The local flora and faunal components of Indo-Malayan and Indo-Chinese sub-regions. There are 379 species of trees, 320 shrubs, 581 herbs, 165 climbers, 16-climbing shrubs, 35 ferns and 45 epiphytes.

Wildlife sanctuaries of the state include Sipahijola Wildlife Sanctuary and Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary.

Education

Tripura schools are run by the state government or by private organisations, including religious institutions. Instruction is mainly in English or Bengali, though Kokborok and other tribal languages are also used. Secondary schools are affiliated with the CISCE, the CBSE, or the Tripura Board of Secondary Education. Under the 10+2+3 plan, after completing secondary school, students typically enroll for 2 years in a junior college, also known as pre-university, or in schools with a higher secondary facility. Notable higher education institutions of Tripura are MBB College, National Institute of Technology and Tripura University, all located in Agartala.

Sports

Football and cricket are the most popular sports in the state. The state capital Agartala has its own club football championships every year where many local clubs compete in a league and knockout format.

Tripura participates as a Eastern state team in the Ranji Trophy, the Indian domestic Cricket competition. The state also is a regular participant of the Indian National Games and the North Eastern Games.

See also

• Kokborok
• Bengal
• Agartala
• Tipra
• Tripuri
• Tripura Police
• Acharya Gour Ganguly, leader of Agartala's satyagraha movement in the 1970s against atrocities on women

Places of interest

Notes

Further reading

• Jagadis Gan-Chaudhuri (1985), An Anthology of Tripura, Inter India Publications ISBN 8121000750
• Roychoudhury, N.R. (1977), Tripura Through the Ages: A Short History of Tripura from the Earliest Times to 1947 A.D., Bureau of Research & Publications on Tripura.
• Bhattacharjee, P.R. (1994), Economic Transition in Tripura (Hardcover), Vikas Publishing House ISBN 978-0706971712
• Palit, P.K. (2004), History of Religion in Tripura (Hardcover) Kaveri Books ISBN 978-8174790644
• Debbarma, Chandramani (2006), Glory of Tripura Civilisation Parul Prakashani, Agartala

External links

• Official website of the government of Tripura.
• Tripura at the Open Directory Project
• Tripura from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• Introduction to Tripura by Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA)
• Profile of Twipra (Tripura)
• Tripura Society's website
• Indian Railways History in North East of India

•  • [ e] List of Tripura-related topics
History	Timeline Economic history Military history Twipra Kingdom Manikya Dynasty Kings of Tripura
Government	Courts Legislative Assembly Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC)
Politics	Elections Political parties (Congress, CPI, CPM, INPT)
Geography	Climate Fauna & Flora Geology Hills Rivers Divisions (Cities, Districts, Subdivisions) Valleys
Economy	Agriculture Communications Companies Education Healthcare Tourism Transport
Culture	Arts Architecture Cinema Cuisine Dance Demographics Dress Folklore Holidays Languages Literature Media Music Religion Sports